BOJ’s Kuroda Supports Bullish Outlook

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda backed “bullish” views on asset markets and said the nation could cope with rising interest rates, failing to ease volatility in stocks as the Topix Index tumbled.

There are no signs investors have “excessively bullish expectations,” the 68-year-old Kuroda said in Tokyo yesterday. He cited an April BOJ report indicating rates could rise by between one and three percentage points in an improving economy without causing financial instability. The Topix slid 2.5 percent as of 11:44 a.m. local time today.

Adding to Kuroda’s communication challenges, today’s minutes of a BOJ meeting on April 26 showed divisions on the policy board, where “a few” members see difficulties meeting a 2 percent price goal by the end of March 2016. One member said the bond market could become unstable again, while others said that swings in financial markets had been triggered by perceptions that the BOJ had conflicting goals — trying to push down interest rates while pursuing inflation.

Bloomberg

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.